Malwina Gudowska

Mother Tongue Tied: On Language, Motherhood & Multilingualism Pre-order now

It’s paperback release day for Mother Tongue Tied. The new edition has an updated cover & is perfectly portable for all your reading-on-the-go needs. I am very proud of this little book & am always honoured when someone picks it up. Thank you always for all of the support geni.us/MotherTongue...

You could for example put bilingual materials in spaces where immigrant mothers or fathers of young children gather in order to promote multilingualism. (It doesn't have to only be a mother's job to maintain a heritage/home language, a la @malwinagudowska.bsky.social)

This is a really interesting article about a horrifying distortion of sign language happening in the UK, and which its creators are now trying to export to other countries and their sign languages

Learn actual sign languages from Deaf people, not from hearing people making their own weird versions!

The In Between The holi-daze and heritage languages, the meanings in between & translation brilliance in the season finale of Pluribus

From this strange in-between time: How to navigate heritage languages over the holidays with family who only use the majority language. Also, more on the season finale of Pluribus & those poignant scenes between Carol, Manousos & the phone translation app
malwinagudowska.substack.com/p/the-in-bet...

Paperback news for Mother Tongue Tied!

MTT is getting a refresh with a new colour combo for the paperback edition out February 26, 2026. Best of all, the PB is the perfect travel companion. Thank you @bonnierbooks.bsky.social & Footnote Press. Pre-order wherever you get your books.

Can't stop thinking about The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House @tatemodern.bsky.social esp. in context of immigration, multilingualism & homes we create through language. When does a building become a home? What spaces do we carry with us? Where do space and memory begin and end?

Found in (Earbud) Translation On the new real-time translation feature, Philly slang, Bad Bunny & language detention!

This week on Motherlingual: Thoughts on the new AirPods & their real-time translation feature. Who really benefits? Plus, Bad Bunny, @slowhorsesappletv.bsky.social, Philly slang in #Task and getting detention for using (meaningless) slang.

malwinagudowska.substack.com/p/found-in-e...

Hey. The fragmentation of the social media landscape has been hard on indie #scicomm 🧪 projects

So if you'd like to follow a podcast that's enthusiastic about #linguistics, could you check out @lingthusiasm.bsky.social?

And if you think your followers might like to, could you give this a repost?

"That is a Great Question!" We are all looking for some affirmation, even from AI. Also, multilingual 'barbarians', do not look away from words & bilingual parenting wins.

malwinagudowska.substack.com/p/that-is-a-...

Polish and NATO jets scrambled, Warsaw airport shut after Ukrainian reports of Russian drones over Poland | CNN Polish authorities have closed Warsaw International Airport and Polish and NATO aircraft have been scrambled as reports have surfaced of Russian drones over the country.

Polish and NATO jets scrambled, Warsaw airport closes after Ukrainian reports of Russian drones over Poland.

Beautiful setting for this year’s #baal2025

Claire's was once a place where tween girls went to be tween girls. Now it's in trouble, @elcush.bsky.social writes: https://theatln.tc/8D1ts6RS

That time I ran into Emma Thompson in the "loo" And other fun language-related things: mugs vs. cups, accent myths, football names, "algospeak" & "tradwives"

In this week’s Motherlingual, riveting content about Emma Thompson, loos & much more language-related stuff including algospeak & tradwives

I know it is August but if you are a planner and interested in hearing me speak about my book and about navigating multilingual parenthood, please save the morning of Sunday, January 25th, 2026! Details & tickets at the link below. I am looking forward to meeting you!

And my article on smoking & its allure (only in image form for me): www.malwinagudowska.com (Blowing Smoke) & the Opinion from @nytimes.com by @christineemba.bsky.social :

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/o...

Noah Is Still Here

I was so moved writing about a little girl with Trisomy 18 decades ago (I don't have a digital version of my story because it was that long ago!) but here is the @nytimes.com one: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/m...

What goes around comes around, especially in journalism! This week, two stories in @nytimes.com caught my eye b/c I wrote about both topics nearly 20 years ago for Canadian mags @avenuemagazine.bsky.social & Swerve - @calgaryherald.com: One about Trisomy 18 & the other about the allure of smoking.

The Shape of the Moment On Leo season, spatio-temporal metaphors, gesture, perception & connection

Some thoughts on August, time, space, narratives, perception, connection and more, with a nod to the fascinating book "Gesture: A Slim Guide" by Lauren Gawne @superlinguo.bsky.social of the wonderful @lingthusiasm.bsky.social over at Motherlingual.

open.substack.com/pub/malwinag...

Have Language, Will Travel Spanish! Catalan! Worrying about children's multilingualism (always) & a recap of language-related gems in Too Much & AJLT. Plus, Winston Churchill's rompers!

Post-holiday thoughts how travelling shapes & changes my family's multilingualism & my favourite British-English & American-English lost-in-translation moments from Lena Dunham's new series, Too Much over at Motherlingual on Substack. Plus, Churchillian fashion!

open.substack.com/pub/malwinag...

What a gift, especially from someone like Mel. I am grateful for the introduction to his work, and especially to him.

And to the point I make in the newsletter about nudes in artwork, I just noticed the "adult content" label Blue Sky put on this post, something I did not even consider when using Saville's "Propped" painting as the home image.

Expressions of the Skin On the language of the body, messages from the flesh & one year of Mother Tongue Tied!

This week in the newsletter, Motherlingual:

Jenny Saville at the National Portrait Gallery &
Expressions of the Skin open.substack.com/pub/malwinag...

Wrong Malwina but interesting talk.

Nezza's anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium ignites debate over team's immigrant support After Latin pop and R&B singer Nezza's viral controversial performance at Dodger Stadium, Dodgers fans have grown frustrated over the team’s lack of vocal support for local immigrant communities i...

apnews.com/article/dodg...

Today is the one-year anniversary of my book, Mother Tongue Tied. Thank you a million times to everyone who sent me a photo, bought a copy, recommended it, reviewed it, read it, told me it meant something to you & supported me & my work. Paperback news coming very soon with something new!

"Nearly-Fluent" & "Not Wholly Bilingual" From Scouse to Spanish with footballer Trent Alexander-Arnold, measuring bilingualism & on who is praised for being multilingual & who is criticised

Wrote about Trent Alexander-Arnold's @lfcr.bsky.social Spanish skills from last week's #RealMadrid conference & what it means to be "nearly-fluent" or "not wholly bilingual":
malwinagudowska.substack.com/p/nearly-flu... @plnews.bsky.social

A picture of Pam Bondi with a headline that reads “Pam Bondi says LA protestors “very different” to Jan. 6 rioters Trump pardoned

The difference is that the Jan. 6 rioters were mostly fascist white people fighting to illegally overturn a democratic presidential election and the LA protestors are mostly Black and Brown people fighting to protect their communities from this fascism

Meet Your Language Where It Is On learning languages, (iconic) T-shirt logos & what I swore I would never say to my children and...did

Meet your language where it is & a few more fun language-related things (SATC's NY) in today's newsletter. Plus, what I thought I would never say to my children about our multilingualism, but unfortunately recently did:
malwinagudowska.substack.com/p/meet-your-...

A much needed reminder on a morning when I am questioning going against the flow of a crowd in our lives & reconsidering certain institutions.